When people talk about having a flexible job, they often say it would lower their stress levels, improve their work-life balance, and give them more time for their personal lives. But can flexible jobs benefit personal health and romantic relationships, specifically? Survey says, yes!

With Valentine’s Day approaching, FlexJobs conducted its annual Work-Life-Relationship survey of over 1,400 flexible job seekers. We wanted to determine whether flexible work arrangements might impact specific things like the mental and physical health of workers, friendships, romantic relationships, and overall happiness.

Survey respondents told us, clearly, that flexible jobs can improve overall personal health and happiness for workers. And working parents, in particular, expressed this at higher rates than other survey audiences.

Defining Flexible Work

According to the survey respondents, 100 percent telecommuting remains the most popular choice of flexible work for job seekers (72 percent), ranked well above flexible schedules as second preference (52 percent). Part-time schedules (36 percent) and freelance work (34 percent) are also in demand.

Here’s what else the survey told us about the benefits of flexible jobs on personal health and romantic relationships:

Work-Life Balance Isn’t Working for Most

More than half (55 percent) of job seekers report their work-life balance is terrible or needs improvement and 68 percent feel stressed by their current work-life balance.

In fact, the top reason they are interested in flexible work is work-life balance (69 percent), followed by money/cost savings (51 percent), time savings (50 percent), and stress (40 percent).

How Flexible Work Positively Impacts Our Lives

When it comes to their personal health and non-romantic relationships:

94 percent thought it would have a positive impact on their personal life.

90 percent thought a flexible job would help them take better care of themselves.

89 percent believed it would decrease their levels of stress.

63 percent thought it would increase the frequency they exercised.

87 percent said it would create more time to spend with family or friends.

68 percent thought it would help them be a better friend.

Regarding their romantic relationships:

46 percent thought having a flexible job would improve their sex life, and another 28 percent were optimistic it would.

83 percent thought it would help them be a more attentive spouse/partner/significant other.

50 percent thought it would increase time available for dates/date nights.

51 percent said it would benefit their romantic relationship, and another 26 percent were hopeful it would.

Flexible Work and Working Parents

Among many other audiences, working parents, in particular, show great interest in flexible work arrangements, as many struggle to balance the pressing demands of both their career and raising children.

In fact, of the more than 550 respondents with children 18 and under living at home, 93 percent thought having a job with work flexibility would help them be a more involved parent.

Working parents also anticipated other benefits from work flexibility, including an improvement in the quality of their romantic relationships:

Nearly half of working parents (49 percent) thought having a flexible job would improve their sex life, and another 28 percent were optimistic it would.

87 percent thought it would help them be a more attentive spouse/partner/significant other, versus 80 percent of non-parents.

53 percent thought it would increase time available for dates/date nights.

55 percent said it would benefit their romantic relationship, and another 27 percent were hopeful it would.

Why Flexible Work Is Important to Relationships and Health

One theory for these findings, according to FlexJobs CEO and founder, Sara Sutton Fell, is that flexible work arrangements reduce the tension workers experience between trying to manage a multitude of competing personal and professional responsibilities.

This competition between the personal and the professional is often labeled, generally, as “work-life balance,” but it’s clear from these survey results that flexible jobs have the ability to make specific impacts in areas like self-care, relationships, physical and mental health, and overall happiness.